Grotz: Sunday's fan experience was anything but Super

Fans are packed into the transit nightmare that was Secaucus Junction en route to Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium Sunday. The post-big game back-patting by NFL comish Roger Goodell neglected to mention the public transportation troubles to and from the game experienced by many fans. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Mike Ditka was right. Shoe-horning Super Bowl XLVIII into New York and New Jersey was stupid.

A chunk of those 82,000-plus fans who paid $1,300 or more per ticket to enjoy the week had their experiences spoiled by transportation issues.

Thankfully the weather wasn’t an issue during the game at MetLife Stadium, home of the New York Giants. Take it from someone who sat with the fans all the way through, including that electric and gutsy Bruno Mars halftime show. Oh, what a relief those 49 degrees were.

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But in talking to people smashed together in lines on trains, the weather leading up to the game was anything but enjoyable. New York City and North Jersey were brutally cold. Fans who set aside money for the week braved the elements for a day, maybe even two but turned back to the safety of their hotel rooms in Jersey, even though they could have gotten tremendous rates in New York City.

Instead of sampling the elite night life and culture the region brags about, a block of fans played defense, sticking around the hotel to avoid the cold while psyching themselves up for what almost certainly was to be the biggest fiasco of their lives: Getting to and from the Super Bowl.

If you rode N.J. Transit to the Super Bowl Sunday, you had to wonder who actually thought there wouldn’t be mass delays. The plan was so ridiculous it was as if the Three Stooges put it together.

For myself and another media member from Delaware County, the idea was to drive to Hamilton Station in New Jersey, ride an N.J. Transit train to Secaucus Junction and switch for the 15-minute train ride to the Meadowlands.

The trip from Hamilton was no problem. We were at Secaucus at 1:30. The kickoff was at 6:25 p.m. But the minute we got off the train, we were squeezed together, shoulder to shoulder with fans who had trained in from Penn Station. This went on for 90 minutes until we finally boarded the train to the stadium.

With thousands of people, the Secaucus station was so hot people fainted, sweated their rear ends off and became angry. And they did their best to get through a bad situation on what was supposed to be one of the exceptional days of their lives.

The security checkpoints at the station didn’t slow the process down nearly as much as the volume of people. It was as if no one figured out a lot of people would avail themselves of the train. And the train situation was worse after the game ended at 9:45 p.m.

Outside MetLife, there was still a long line just to get on the train at midnight, so long that several people bailed out to take busses.

It was at least another 45 minutes, in rain and cold, to get through the line and on to the spur back to Secaucus.

Along with hundreds of mostly Seahawks fans, we reached Secaucus at 1:09 a.m. Little did we know we wouldn’t get to Hamilton until 4 a.m. We weren’t the only riders whose train broke down.

It was sheer agony. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell obviously wasn’t aware of what happened when he opened the final news conference of Super Bowl 48 week Monday with, “Let me thank the people of this region, New York and New Jersey, all of the officials that worked so hard to pull off a terrific Super Bowl.

“We are thrilled with not only their effort but more importantly the outcome,” Goodell said. “It was an extraordinary week of events and we were thrilled to be here. Obviously our work continues today as we work to get our fans back out of town and back home. But everyone seemed to have a terrific time. We had a couple of things that, obviously, we will review and try to improve on but overall, I think the event was tremendously successful.”

No one pinned the Commish down on “tremendously successful.” It’s a shame the train riders weren’t there.

The transportation issues aren’t solely the fault of Goodell. Hopefully he wasn’t aware of a portion of the plan seriously inconveniencing the loyal fans who paid big money not only for tickets but Super Bowl gear and amenities. When Goodell talks about what a success this Super Bowl was, and how there might be another, he doesn’t do justice to these fans.

True to his word, Goodell sat in the stands for a portion of the Seahawks’ 43-8 romp over Denver.

Had Goodell stood in line with fans in Secaucus, he wouldn’t have tolerated what they did. He would have ended the misery. And he would have insisted on knowing just who in the world decided this was the best way to transport fans to the game. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, on his worst day, wouldn’t have accepted it either.

Beyond the planning is the weather. You cannot control it. At the least Super Bowl week should be in an environment that gives ticket holders and everyone else involved in the game a reasonable chance of getting around. Without it, the economic benefits dwindle.

Take, for example, the reports that Super Bowl 48 would generate up to $600 million in revenue for New York and New Jersey. Days before the game, contradicting reports suggested a more realistic figure would be $30 to $60 million. Considering the cold and the transportation challenges, the lower figure is much more believable.

Ditka was right. And if he knew what happened to these two poor souls from Kansas City, he would ring Goodell’s doorbell and demand they get full refunds for their trip.

The KC guys were put off their train along with others at Rahway, N.J. at 2:30 a.m. They were told to wait for another train. They were told a train had broken down and another was on its way.

Having never been to Rahway but realizing they might be a target in full Chiefs regalia at such an hour, I applaud them for dialing 911. They were with us on the trip to East Rutherford from Hamilton. And they eventually joined us on the rescue train for the return trip to Hamilton. And in one piece, which was a blessing considering the way they were dropped in the middle of nowhere.

It’s hard to sit here and think the Super Bowl was “tremendously successful” in light of their challenge, and the challenges of so many others. They deserved better. A lot better. So did many others who will remember this New York-New Jersey Super Bowl as anything but super.